Disney World

Disney. 

 So many things come to mind when I hear that word.  Some good, some notsomuch, but one thing I know is that a three-year-old-princess-ballerina-adventurer would love Disney World.  So when my mom and I realized we had just enough time to squeeze in a visit (maybe our last chance before we move beyond driving distance) we went for it.  

 It was a pretty packed trip. 9 hours of driving to get in at 1am, hit the park at breakfast time on Miss's birthday and pack in a day of fast-pass park criss-crossing (we stayed until midnight) then a morning at the pool and another long drive late into the night.  Whew!

Was it worth it? Peanuts.  They don't call it the Magic Kingdom for nothing. 

Little One knew what the top priority was for Her as soon as we got past those castle gates.  

Meet. The. Princesses.  

She was completely star-struck.  She used Her best royal manners; offering Her hand and curtseying, "nice-a meet you!"  She was completely unamused by the overt spunkiness of the tinkerbell lot, but treated Minnie, Mickey, and Pinocchio like old friends.  

After having been introduced to all these VIPs, Little One deemed the trip a success! 

But there was more.  Dancing.  Singing. 

Possibly Her favorite part- "the singer-guys from the Music Man!"

  

Popsicle.  

Nice of Disney to give Little One a free popsicle for Her sister's birthday

And, oh yes.  Rides.  

Little One LOVED the rides.  She didn't even mind waiting in the incredible lines for the rides.  She asked for the kiddie-coaster ("Little too scary, Mama. But it's ok, we can tell Dada how I was so brave on there!") She was giddy over the teacups, She's still talking about the Pooh ride with Nana.  

Now.  

In case any of you felt like taking the word of a teenaged employee, having not been on the ride since loooong before Jack Sparrow swashbuckled, I am here to tell you.  

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN IS TOO SCARY FOR 3-YEAR-OLDS.   Let alone one-year-olds.  The acrid smell of parental guilt and the thick smoke of impending doom as the boat departed into a dank tunnel ringing with the croak of "Deeaaaad Meeennn Teeelll Noooo Taaaaaaaalllleeeeesss!!" will unfortunately go down as a black spot on our cartoonishly happy Disney experience.  

As will the next six agonizing minutes of huddling together, trying to cover the disturbing soundtrack with my own cheery narrative- 

"Ha ha. Ha.  Look, that pirate has a pet pig.  Cute little piggy! Oooh, those ones are having a big campfire.  Maybe they are running to get marshmallows! Oh yes, silly doggy! Silly doggy tricked those funny pirates into getting in his cage! Look there, he's bringing back the keys! He was just pretending, good doggy! Ha. Haaa haa!  Such funny little pirates!"  Right. 

The physical trembling of my poor Little One (why don't those things have an emergency eject button?) made us a little wary of the next ride.

Especially since my parents are still telling the tale of how I was so horrified on it that I literally tried to jump overboard when I was Little One's age. 

But you all know Little One (aka Little-One-Lilly-Ti-ger!) and Her love of- Peter Pan. So we tried it. 

 

She LOVED it.  In fact, at the end She told every passer-by how UN-scared She was; how much fun it had been.  And how the fact that the croc was letting Hook dance on its head, and that Hook was so joyfully doing so, proved to Her that they were actually both friends. That they were nice, after all! 

If you say so, kid.

What surprised me most was how much Little Miss enjoyed the whole thing.  

She loved it! First of all, It's A Small World.  

"This trippy place is a-MAZ-ing!

 Ho. ly. cow. If I had left Her in there, She'd still be bopping around.  Dancing and grinning, giggling and clapping, waving and ooh-ing and aah-ing.  

A whole land of eternally happy, dancing, tiny people?!  

She found where She belongs, guys.  We went through twice. 

It IS a small world, after all!

Miss was also hugely into the parades, the carousel, and the multitudes of people to flirt with (the one person in Disney who actually likes long lines). Not to mention all the hanging out with Nana time while Little One and I hit the big(ish) kid rides. 

"why did we stop? I need some spurs fer this hoss."

"I get to ring this just 'cause it's my birthday?! You people rock."

We did just about everything there was to do, staying until the park closed.  Disney was even so kind as to provide the Littles with their all-time favorite dinner (salmon and broccoli).  And Nana was so kind as to provide Little One with the one object She had coveted all day long.  

 

It could not have been more magical.  

 

Despite the insanely long, overstimulating, and jam-packed day, despite the no-naps, the late dinner, and the long lines to get anywhere (including out of the park), I am happy to say that there were no tantrums, no cases of the gimmes, no complaints from my little princesses.  

Around 11pm- Little One a little disheveled but still having fun! Missy all magic-ed out.

The only tears shed all day were a few shimmering down Little One's cheek in the moonlight 

as we walked away.  

"Bye Disney wor-wold.  I just miss you so much.  I love you all the days."